Infrastructural Neglect & Social and Environmental Degradation

Infrastructural Neglect

This article discusses the massive drought Puerto Rico experienced and its effects on citizens. In the capital, thousands experienced water rationing, where water services were cut off for 24 to 48 hours every few days. The drought led the past governor, Alejandro García Padilla, to declare a state of emergency. He stated that Puerto Rico’s debt crisis contributed to the drought since it could have been mitigated if the government had had funds to build a dam.

A fire at a major plant in Puerto Rico, which was blamed on poor maintenance, provoked a 3-day blackout on the Island. The author places this blackout in the context of the Island’s debt crisis, the U.S. Supreme Court rulings that annulled Puerto Rico’s Constitution and sovereignty, and the federally-imposed fiscal control board. As she explains, the blackout spells the collapse of the Free Associated State.

This article looks at the growing landfill in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico and how it has affected the neighboring community. This situation is reflected in over half of the landfills located on the island – most are over capacity and pose a serious health hazard as there is potential for the garbage to liquefy and seep into the soil, violating federal laws. Additionally, Puerto Rico’s economic crisis has made it difficult to permanently close these landfills.

This NY Times article analyses how PREPA has been crumbling under several years of neglect in the form of using cheap materials and falsifying reports, ledgers, and tests. Notoriously, PREPA bought cheap dirty oil, which had high levels of sulfur, but charged customers the price of clean oil. The ramifications of this neglect resulted in the toxic air in the neighborhoods near the power plants and $9 billion in debt. The debt was accrued with the goal to upgrade the plants and transition out of oil as fuel for generating electricity

This article by the Associated Press details the push for Puerto Rico to privatize public services by Governor Ricardo Rosello due to the decrease in government funds as a result of the island’s long-standing recession. Rosello estimates that the privatization could result in 100,000 new jobs being brought to the island, as well as $5 billion being generated in the years immediately following the shift. The privatization would include many sectors – transportation, waste management, IT, and renewable energy – but would not require legislative approval. Government officials declared that 25 percent of the revenue generated from the privatization deals would support the dwindling public pension system. Additionally, they have identified at least 30 projects which would improve as a result of the privatization. However, it is important to note that it has been five years since Puerto Rico signed a previous deal that privatized the operations of the island’s international airport and it’s busiest highway, resulting in the elimination of 60% of the Port Authority’s debt and the payment of $1 billion of the highway’s debt. Additionally, la Junta would need to approve any projects, but expedited permits would be approved for projects that are considered critical to the economy.

According to a report from the Natural Resources Defense Council published in 2015, Puerto Rico was supplied with water from systems with a multitude of contaminants ranging from lead to coliform bacteria, to disinfectants, violating the U.S Safe Drinking Water Act. Most of the violations were due to a failure of testing the water’s safety and reporting the issues to health authorities and the public. There were nearly 34,000 individual violations from 2005 to 2015

Social & Environmental Degradation

This article pinpoints the root cause of Puerto Rico’s suffering to be gentrification, outlining how this manifests and takes over a community. Key perpetrators of gentrification include a complicit local government and an ignorant general public. Gentrification results in the shutting down of local business and replacing them with businesses preferred by the new community and population loss of natives: since 2005, Puerto Rico has sustained a steady population loss as many have traveled to the mainland and have not returned. Hurricane Maria only worsened the situation, as many owners sold or abandoned their homes; some of those who cannot afford to leave get swept up in the growing wave of violence and crime. Like the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the state of Puerto Rico has a vested interest in selling this newly available real estate to the highest bidder all at the cost of the existing community.

This report is on the multiple human rights violation, particularly economic, social, and environmental violations. The Caribbean Institue of Human Rights – Instituto Caribeno de Derechos Humano- gathered information by documenting the experiences of the poorest communities before and after Hurricane Maria hit the island. The authors of this report find that these human rights violations are not a result of the hurricane, but have instead had long been in place through policies that prioritize private interest at the expense of the disenfranchised citizens of the island.

This is the Human Development Index Report – Informe del Indice de Desarrollo Humano (IDH) – produced for Puerto Rico in 2016. This 300-page report touches on the demographic changes in Puerto Rico, as well as its healthcare and education systems, and emphasizes the fact that poverty and inequality are the main obstacles to human development on the island.

Puerto Rico’s defaulting on its debt has resulted in half of its residents living in poverty, a 12% unemployment rate, and homeless rates doubling in only five years. This number is expected to get worse as the amount of foreclosed homes is expected to rise to 26,000. Additionally, the population of those suffering from substance abuse has hit 185,000. While relief for these communities is present – in the form of individuals volunteering their time and donating supplies through federally funded organizations – the work is difficult due to the island’s crippling debt.

54 thousand families face eviction in Puerto Rico due to a $70 million cut in federal funds designated for public housing. This cut will also negatively impact the construction industry and the housing market and the elimination of HUD programs like Section 8.

This New York Times article details the feelings of anxiety at the wake of Puerto Rico’s declaration of total bankruptcy of the island, and how it has affected its most vulnerable population. Business owners, retirees, and public servants are some of those who are caught in the middle of the island’s debt crisis. The dwindling business and pensions, coupled with a rise in utility prices, has left many uncertain about their futures. This crisis has left no one on the island untouched.

This piece uses poetic language and photographs to highlight the high rates of repossession and eviction plaguing the island. The language describes the despair left behind when one loses their home and how that negatively impacts them. The photographs are filled with emptiness and tell the story of a home that was once filled with love, now abandoned.

This article details the evolution of Arecibo, a once busy town, into a perpetual ghost town. Businesses closed down as many traveled to the U.S. and San Juan with the goal to start over. Many investigative reports and articles that stemmed from the island’s inability to pay its debts focused mainly on the impact to the population of San Juan, and failed to include many of the smaller communities who are being hit just as hard, if not more. Arecibo used to have a booming downtown area, but over time, businesses failed and government and municipal buildings were removed from the downtown area. Big corporations – Wal-Mart, Sears, etc. – have undercut competition and many local businesses cannot compete with the prices.

This first part of a three-part investigative series looks at the high rate of miscarriages and premature births that plagued the neighborhood of Arroyo Barril between 2005 and 2008. While expectant mothers did not receive any explanation from health officials for the high rate infant and fetal mortality, many suspect the cause to be the coal ash that was abandoned in the Juan Pablo Duarte dock for almost 4 years. 27 thousand tons of ash from the AES carbon plant in Guayama, Puerto Rico were left at the dock at Arroyo Barril without a management plan on October 2003. This waste, filled with heavy metals, was carried with the sea breeze, contaminating the air, soil, local rivers, and springs, as well as the seawater and affected the Dominican Republic as well. Additionally, hundreds of residents took home coal ash after the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources declared the material safe for construction and flooring. This contamination has lead to a health crisis in the form of an increase in pre and postnatal complications, rashes, bone pain, fever, and hives.

This article looks at how while Puerto Ricans living in small coastal towns have not amassed large amounts of wealth or improved their socioeconomic status, they are still living well despite the crippling debt plaguing the country. This is due to relying on a diverse income stream that allows for flexibility when economic conditions are uncertain. Many have become resourceful and have relied on a steady community to barter with and set up arrangements that not only help them but their neighbors. This pooling of resources and times improves everyone’s quality of life.